--- title: Commissioner David Stern to Step Down. How He Affected the NBA description: During the NBA's annual season tip-off conference call with the media on Thursday, David Stern just wouldn't mention it. Stern, 70, had announced earlier in... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7159132/the-day-we-thought-would-never-come-david-stern-to-step-down/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-10-26T10:00:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:32:35.954Z article:section: Sports og:title: Commissioner David Stern to Step Down. How He Affected the NBA og:description: During the NBA's annual season tip-off conference call with the media on Thursday, David Stern just wouldn't mention it. Stern, 70, had announced earlier in... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7159132/the-day-we-thought-would-never-come-david-stern-to-step-down/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39af9b04c0a0a5b2/698a98d9d07533dae0e77781/1500_138530119.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: Indiana Pacers v Atlanta Hawks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Commissioner David Stern to Step Down. How He Affected the NBA twitter:description: During the NBA's annual season tip-off conference call with the media on Thursday, David Stern just wouldn't mention it. Stern, 70, had announced earlier in... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39af9b04c0a0a5b2/698a98d9d07533dae0e77781/1500_138530119.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) # Words We Never Thought We'd Hear: David Stern to Step Down > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 26, 2012 10:00 AM UTC  ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 08: NBA Commissioner David Stern speaks with the media prior to the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on February 8, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 08: NBA Commissioner David Stern speaks with the media prior to the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on February 8, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Getty Images—2012 Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 26, 2012 10:00 AM UTC During the NBA’s annual season tip-off conference call with the media on Thursday, David Stern just wouldn’t mention it. Stern, 70, had announced earlier in the day that he would step down as NBA commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, exactly 30 years after he took over a league flirting with irrelevance. This news was the only thing most people wanted to talk about. But Stern went ahead and ran down the mundane business of the NBA. Revenue sharing is working, he said, and season-ticket renewal is at 86%. (It’s actually slightly higher, and it’s a new record.) At the Board of Governors meeting, the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets delivered presentations on their new high-definition arena video boards. The NBA … where high-def arena video boards happen! ([**MORE:** The NBA’s Global Game Plan](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004412-1,00.html)) Finally, more than five minutes in, he acknowledged the news. “Oh yes, one more development,” Stern said, reiterating that Adam Silver, his longtime deputy, would take his place. (Official ratification, which Stern labeled a “formality,” is in April.) As a long-standing Stern watcher, I couldn’t help but think that the whole monologue was fitting. He didn’t want to let go. But he is. The prevailing thinking among many NBA employees and analysts over the years was that you’d have to bulldoze Stern’s office to get him out of there. And even amid the rubble, he might not budge. He’d be commissioner for life. Unless some weird Jay Leno–Conan O’Brien thing goes down over the 15-month transition — and in the end, that wouldn’t be all that surprising, given Stern’s love of the job — we’re indeed entering a new era of NBA leadership. ([**MORE:** Conan vs. Leno: _Tonight Show_ Smackdown](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319%5F2033700%5F2033698,00.html)) There had been some signs he’d be stepping aside. Silver definitely took a more active role in the labor negotiations that produced last year’s lockout-shortened season. The battle seemed to wear on Stern, not that haggling over salary caps is a hoot. After the NBA and its players signed the new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, which the owners and players can opt out of after six years, Stern said, “I’m not planning to be here certainly for the 10 and probably not the six.” But a half-dozen years is a long way off. A retirement announcement in, say, five years made sense. Now just seems so soon. Commissioners, like coaches and politicians and CEOs, get outsize credit for successes — and probably get hit too hard for failures. Fans didn’t fill NBA arenas to see David Stern grinning in the stands. When Stern took over in 1984, he already had two gifts on his desk: [Larry Bird](http://topics.time.com/larry-bird/) and Magic Johnson, who were months away from playing in their first finals against each other. Selling that rivalry required no advanced degree. Then, in that year’s draft, a skinny, tongue-waving highlight film from North Carolina, [Michael Jordan](http://topics.time.com/michael-jordan/), might as well have walked into Stern’s office and poured cash all over the place. Nike dished a sweet assist to expand that brand. ([**PHOTOS:** ](http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1456277072%5F1728554,00.html)[23 Years of Air Jordans](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1706989,00.html)) Bottom line, however: Stern sold basketball hard. Someone else could have produced the same result: the globalization of an American game, cherished both in the streets of Harlem and at all those Hickory Highs. But Stern’s the one who pushed basketball across borders. He saw the potential impact of the Dream Team. He figured out the television channels. Under his watch, a boring exhibition — the All-Star game — became a weekend spectacle, the dunk contests and three-point shoot-outs of yesteryear producing iconic moments and spiking demand for the NBA game. He started the first league-owned TV network, a template for marketing a sports brand. In steps Silver, a guy who has played good cop over the years. He’s been the heir apparent for a long time. (As someone who’s been wrong on countless predictions, can I just point out that, finally, we were [on to](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1006313,00.html) something?) Silver grew up in the NBA and is fluent in all aspects of the business: labor, television deals, international marketing. He’ll bring a new style to the top job. Stern can be tough to work for. He can be caustic. Many people who sit across from Stern at the negotiating table and work at the NBA offices likely cheered a bit today. Stern will yell at his subordinates, needle them. That’s not Silver’s style — at least not yet. Sometimes at the top, you can’t be the nice guy. Though I’d be shocked if Silver’s persona changed too drastically. As consumers of basketball, does it really matter to us if Stern isn’t always cuddly? For a generation of basketball fans, Stern’s holding court at the draft and his signatures on all those balls are all we know. And the product he managed, aside from some down years after Jordan’s retirement and a labor strife here and there, was terrific. “I’m not a big believer in the _L_ word, _legacy_,” Stern says. “I just want people to say that he steered the good ship NBA through all kinds of interesting times, some choppy waters, some extraordinary opportunities, and … on his watch, the league grew in popularity, became a global phenomenon, and the owners and the players and the fans did very well.” They did. We did. We were lucky to have him. [**VIDEO:** 10 Questions for David Stern](http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1456277072%5F1728554,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7159132/the-day-we-thought-would-never-come-david-stern-to-step-down/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7159132/the-day-we-thought-would-never-come-david-stern-to-step-down/"},"headline":"Words We Never Thought We'd Hear: David Stern to Step Down","datePublished":"2012-10-26T10:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:32:35.954Z","description":"During the NBA's annual season tip-off conference call with the media on Thursday, David Stern just wouldn't mention it. 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